The replacement saddle I purchased (Forté Pro XFR) was fairly inexpensive, but my friend Harv let me try his and it felt comfortable to me–especially due to the cutout. I figured it was worth a shot, and I knew I could return it for a full refund if I didn’t like it.

I found the Forté quite comfortable on shorter rides, but I did several rides over 50 miles on it and, like clockwork, as I approached the 50 mile mark the saddle became almost unbearable. I really liked the cutout, however, and so I knew was at least on the right path…

My Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow bike saddle. A little heavy, but if it’s comfortable on long rides it will be worth it.

I decided to return the Forté, and picked up the Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow. At 296 grams this saddle is a little on the hefty side (the Devo is 190g, while the Forté is around 220g), but I’m 100% fine with that as long as I can do long rides in comfort.

When you’re deep into a ride there’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like your legs and cardio are still firing on all cylinders, but your butt hurts so much that’s all you can think about. So yeah, I will happily trade a few grams to prevent that from happening.

I have fairly wide sit bones, and this saddle is designed for that. It also has gel padding (this is probably the extra weight) and an anatomical cutout, so in theory this might be the one. Hope so!

I’m going to get an early ride in on it this morning. I’m only going to do about 30 miles this morning, as tomorrow it’s looking like a pretty cool group mountain bike ride is coming together. I want my legs fresh for that ride, as I’m not sure how far– or how fast–we’ll be going.

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